What led to the late finish the lady was upset about (5)
I believe the answer is:
delay
'what led to' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'late finish the lady was upset about' is the wordplay.
'finish' indicates one should take the final letters.
'was upset' indicates an anagram (I've seen 'are upset' mean this).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
The final letter of 'late' is 'e'.
'lady' anagrammed gives 'dlay'.
'e' placed into 'dlay' is 'DELAY'.
'the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for delay that I've seen before include "Hold-up, time lag" , "Hinder" , "Time lapse" , "Stoppage" , "Hold back" .)